Book of Common Prayer
Thanksgiving for the Lord’s Saving Goodness.
118 (A)Give thanks to the Lord, for (B)He is good;
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
2 Oh let (C)Israel say,
“His lovingkindness is everlasting.”
3 Oh let the (D)house of Aaron say,
“His lovingkindness is everlasting.”
4 Oh let those (E)who [a]fear the Lord say,
“His lovingkindness is everlasting.”
5 From my (F)distress I called upon [b]the Lord;
[c]The Lord answered me and (G)set me in a large place.
6 The Lord is (H)for me; I will (I)not fear;
(J)What can man do to me?
7 The Lord is for me (K)among those who help me;
Therefore I will (L)look with satisfaction on those who hate me.
8 It is (M)better to take refuge in the Lord
Than to trust in man.
9 It is (N)better to take refuge in the Lord
Than to trust in princes.
10 All nations (O)surrounded me;
In the name of the Lord I will surely (P)cut them off.
11 They (Q)surrounded me, yes, they surrounded me;
In the name of the Lord I will surely cut them off.
12 They surrounded me (R)like bees;
They were extinguished as a (S)fire of thorns;
In the name of the Lord I will surely cut them off.
13 You (T)pushed me violently so that I [d]was falling,
But the Lord (U)helped me.
14 [e](V)The Lord is my strength and song,
And He has become (W)my salvation.
15 The sound of (X)joyful shouting and salvation is in the tents of the righteous;
The (Y)right hand of the Lord does valiantly.
16 The (Z)right hand of the Lord is exalted;
The right hand of the Lord does valiantly.
17 I (AA)will not die, but live,
And (AB)tell of the works of [f]the Lord.
18 [g]The Lord has (AC)disciplined me severely,
But He has (AD)not given me over to death.
19 (AE)Open to me the gates of righteousness;
I shall enter through them, I shall give thanks to [h]the Lord.
20 This is the gate of the Lord;
The (AF)righteous will enter through it.
21 I shall give thanks to You, for You have (AG)answered me,
And You have (AH)become my salvation.
22 The (AI)stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief corner stone.
23 This is [i]the Lord’s doing;
It is marvelous in our eyes.
24 This is the day which the Lord has made;
Let us (AJ)rejoice and be glad in it.
25 O Lord, (AK)do save, we beseech You;
O Lord, we beseech You, do send (AL)prosperity!
26 (AM)Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord;
We have (AN)blessed you from the house of the Lord.
27 (AO)The Lord is God, and He has given us (AP)light;
Bind the festival sacrifice with cords [j]to the (AQ)horns of the altar.
28 (AR)You are my God, and I give thanks to You;
You are my God, (AS)I extol You.
29 (AT)Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
The Lord Extolled for His Goodness.
A Psalm of Praise, of David.
145 I will (A)extol You, (B)my God, O King,
And I will (C)bless Your name forever and ever.
2 Every day I will bless You,
And I will (D)praise Your name forever and ever.
3 (E)Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised,
And His (F)greatness is unsearchable.
4 One (G)generation shall praise Your works to another,
And shall declare Your mighty acts.
5 On the (H)glorious [a]splendor of Your majesty
And (I)on Your wonderful works, I will meditate.
6 Men shall speak of the [b]power of Your (J)awesome acts,
And I will (K)tell of Your greatness.
7 They shall [c]eagerly utter the memory of Your (L)abundant goodness
And will (M)shout joyfully of Your righteousness.
8 The Lord is (N)gracious and merciful;
Slow to anger and great in lovingkindness.
9 The Lord is (O)good to all,
And His (P)mercies are over all His works.
10 (Q)All Your works shall give thanks to You, O Lord,
And Your (R)godly ones shall bless You.
11 They shall speak of the (S)glory of Your kingdom
And talk of Your power;
12 To (T)make known to the sons of men [d]Your mighty acts
And the (U)glory of the majesty of [e]Your kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is [f]an (V)everlasting kingdom,
And Your dominion endures throughout all generations.
14 The Lord (W)sustains all who fall
And (X)raises up all who are bowed down.
15 The eyes of all [g]look to You,
And You (Y)give them their food in due time.
16 You (Z)open Your hand
And satisfy the desire of every living thing.
17 The Lord is (AA)righteous in all His ways
And kind in all His deeds.
18 The Lord is (AB)near to all who call upon Him,
To all who call upon Him (AC)in truth.
19 He will (AD)fulfill the desire of those who fear Him;
He will also (AE)hear their cry and will save them.
20 The Lord (AF)keeps all who love Him,
But all the (AG)wicked He will destroy.
21 My (AH)mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,
And (AI)all flesh will (AJ)bless His holy name forever and ever.
4 Then they set out from Mount Hor by the way of the [a]Red Sea, to (A)go around the land of Edom; and the [b]people became impatient because of the journey. 5 The people spoke against God and Moses, “(B)Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no [c]food and no water, and [d](C)we loathe this miserable food.”
The Bronze Serpent
6 (D)The Lord sent fiery serpents among the people and (E)they bit the people, so that (F)many people of Israel died. 7 (G)So the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against the Lord and you; (H)intercede with the Lord, that He may remove the serpents from us.” And Moses interceded for the people. 8 Then the Lord said to Moses, “[e]Make a (I)fiery serpent, and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he will live.” 9 And Moses made a (J)bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived.
Two Victories
21 (A)Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites, saying, 22 “(B)Let me pass through your land. We will not turn off into field or vineyard; we will not drink water from wells. We will go by the king’s highway until we have passed through your border.” 23 (C)But Sihon would not permit Israel to pass through his border. So Sihon gathered all his people and went out against Israel in the wilderness, and came to (D)Jahaz and fought against Israel. 24 Then (E)Israel [a]struck him with the edge of the sword, and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as the sons of Ammon; for the (F)border of the sons of Ammon was [b]Jazer. 25 Israel took all these cities and (G)Israel lived in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all her [c]villages. 26 For Heshbon was the city of Sihon, king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and had taken all his land out of his hand, as far as the Arnon. 27 Therefore those who use proverbs say,
“Come to Heshbon! Let it be built!
So let the city of Sihon be established.
28 “(H)For a fire went forth from Heshbon,
A flame from the town of Sihon;
It devoured (I)Ar of Moab,
The [d](J)dominant [e]heights of the Arnon.
29 “(K)Woe to you, O Moab!
You are ruined, O people of (L)Chemosh!
(M)He has given his sons as fugitives,
(N)And his daughters into captivity,
To an Amorite king, Sihon.
30 “But we have cast them down,
Heshbon is ruined as far as (O)Dibon,
Then we have laid waste even to Nophah,
Which reaches to Medeba.”
31 Thus Israel lived in the land of the Amorites. 32 Moses sent to spy out (P)Jazer, and they captured its villages and dispossessed the Amorites who were there.
33 (Q)Then they turned and went up by the way of Bashan, and Og the king of Bashan went out [f]with all his people, for battle at (R)Edrei. 34 But the Lord said to Moses, “(S)Do not fear him, for I have given him into your hand, and all his people and his land; and you shall do to him as you did to Sihon, king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.” 35 So (T)they [g]killed him and his sons and all his people, until there was no remnant left him; and they possessed his land.
12 Therefore (A)many of them believed, [a]along with a number of (B)prominent Greek (C)women and men. 13 But when the Jews of (D)Thessalonica found out that the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul in (E)Berea also, they came there as well, agitating and stirring up the crowds. 14 Then immediately (F)the brethren sent Paul out to go as far as the sea; and (G)Silas and (H)Timothy remained there. 15 Now (I)those who escorted Paul brought him as far as (J)Athens; and receiving a command for (K)Silas and Timothy to (L)come to him as soon as possible, they left.
Paul at Athens
16 Now while Paul was waiting for them at (M)Athens, his spirit was being provoked within him as he was observing the city full of idols. 17 So he was reasoning (N)in the synagogue with the Jews and (O)the God-fearing Gentiles, and in the market place every day with those who happened to be present. 18 And also some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were [b]conversing with him. Some were saying, “What would (P)this [c]idle babbler wish to say?” Others, “He seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities,”—because he was preaching (Q)Jesus and the resurrection. 19 And they (R)took him and brought him [d]to the [e](S)Areopagus, saying, “May we know what (T)this new teaching is [f]which you are proclaiming? 20 For you are bringing some strange things to our ears; so we want to know what these things mean.” 21 (Now all the Athenians and the strangers (U)visiting there used to spend their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new.)
Sermon on Mars Hill
22 So Paul stood in the midst of the [g]Areopagus and said, “Men of (V)Athens, I observe that you are very (W)religious in all respects. 23 For while I was passing through and examining the (X)objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ Therefore what (Y)you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. 24 (Z)The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is (AA)Lord of heaven and earth, does not (AB)dwell in temples made with hands; 25 nor is He served by human hands, (AC)as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; 26 and (AD)He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having (AE)determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, 27 that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, (AF)though He is not far from each one of us; 28 for (AG)in Him we live and move and [h]exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’ 29 Being then the children of God, we (AH)ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man. 30 Therefore having (AI)overlooked (AJ)the times of ignorance, God is (AK)now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, 31 because He has fixed (AL)a day in which (AM)He will judge [i](AN)the world in righteousness [j]through a Man whom He has (AO)appointed, having furnished proof to all men [k]by (AP)raising Him from the dead.”
32 Now when they heard of (AQ)the resurrection of the dead, some began to sneer, but others said, “We shall hear you [l]again concerning this.” 33 So Paul went out of their midst. 34 But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the (AR)Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.
Healing on the Sabbath
10 And He was (A)teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. 11 And there was a woman who for eighteen years had had (B)a sickness caused by a spirit; and she was bent double, and could not straighten up at all. 12 When Jesus saw her, He called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your sickness.” 13 And He (C)laid His hands on her; and immediately she was made erect again and began (D)glorifying God. 14 But (E)the synagogue official, indignant because Jesus (F)had healed on the Sabbath, began saying to the crowd in response, “(G)There are six days in which work should be done; so come during them and get healed, and not on the Sabbath day.” 15 But (H)the Lord answered him and said, “You hypocrites, (I)does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the stall and lead him away to water him? 16 And this woman, (J)a daughter of Abraham as she is, whom (K)Satan has bound for eighteen long years, should she not have been released from this bond on the Sabbath day?” 17 As He said this, all His opponents were being humiliated; and (L)the entire crowd was rejoicing over all the glorious things being done by Him.
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